This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Propshaft assemblies for modern automotive vehicles typically include a propshaft tube that is welded on its opposite ends to a weld yoke structure. Common welding processes for coupling the weld yoke structure to the propshaft tube include MIG (metal inert gas) welding and friction welding. While such welding processes are suitable for their intended purposes, they are known in the art to have certain drawbacks. For example, some materials, such as 7XXX aluminum alloys (e.g., 7075-T6), can be difficult or impossible to weld in a cost-effective and high-volume manner. Moreover, the heat of the weld can affect the strength of a portion of the propshaft tube and/or could cause distortion of the propshaft tube.
It is known in the art to employ adhesives to bond a yoke to a propshaft tube. Adhesives typically do not affect the strength of the propshaft tube and typically do not cause distortion of the propshaft tube. Despite these advantages, we are unaware of any adhesive-based propshaft assembly manufacturing process that is suitable to high volume manufacture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,485,045 describes a drive shaft assembly process in which an adhesive is injected into an injection port in an end fitting and pressure is maintained on the adhesive in the injection port for preferably at least 5 to 10 minutes to fully drive the adhesive into a space between a tube and the end fitting. While such process is suitable for its intended purpose, it is not suited for high volume commercial production that is necessary for a modern automotive vehicle.